HarperCollins Children’s Books goes global with Hello Kitty

HarperCollins Children’s Books has renewed its publishing licence for the Hello Kitty brand.

Publishing of activity, learning, gift and electronic titles will continue and, for the first time, rights will be extended to a significant number of new territories including Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Europe and the Middle East.

The new deal was agreed by Rachel Denwood, publishing and creative director at HarperCollins, and Matthew Conrad, COO at Fluid World.

New publishing for the Sanrio brand will include a range of activity books featuring the things that Hello Kitty loves the most, kicking off with dancing and playing shops.

There will also be a range of books featuring photos of Hello Kitty’s favourite kittens and puppies, alongside Hello Kitty herself.

HarperCollins will also publish a range of high-end gift lines, including Icon, a book about how Hello Kitty’s style has developed through the ages.

"We are excited to be working even more closely with Sanrio and Fluid to continue publishing the evergreen girls’ property, Hello Kitty," said Denwood. "It’s wonderful to be able to publish one of the world’s most iconic characters in a range of formats and in an increased number of territories around the world."

Fluid World’s Conrad added: "HarperCollins are a great partner and we are looking forward to working closely with them to build a broad Hello Kitty publishing programme."